Livingstone slams game violence outcries

The UK took too long to recognise the cultural and financial merits of video games, Eidos Life President Ian Livingstone has said at the Westminster eForum.

Speaking at the eForum debate on the future of the UK game industry in Whitehall, London, Livingstone criticised the national news media’s tendency to stir up moral panic surrounding violent content found in some videogames.

“The outcry in this country should be about the poor skills the UK has to make games,” he said.

Livingstone’s speech put the UK game industry in its best light; as a creative sector that can have a positive effect on gamers and make significant contributions for the UK economy. It was a shame, he said, that the news-media didn’t reflect this.

“People just couldn’t accept that games are a great learning tool,” he added.

Elsewhere in his speech Livingstone touched on the issue of game tax breaks. He cited the government’s reasoning behind not backing tax reform, where the government argued that UK developers who lose their jobs won’t hurt Britain, as their skills are transferable to other businesses and sectors. Essentially, developers will be able to get new work somewhere else.

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